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‘Advancing Women’s Leadership in Politics’ workshop held in city

Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, centre, along with others during the opening session of a two-day conference on Advancing Women’s Leadership at the Six Seasons Hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday, July 11, 2018 Courtesy

The conference is being jointly organized by the Centre for Research and Information (CRI) and Democracy International (DI)

A two-day conference on Advancing Women’s Leadership was inaugurated by the Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader at Dhaka’s Six Seasons Hotel on Tuesday.

The conference is being jointly organized by the Centre for Research and Information (CRI) and Democracy International (DI). 120 female leaders of Bangladesh Awami League and its associated organizations selected from across the country are joining the conference.

The opening session was also addressed by CRI Trustee and Power, Energy and Mineral Resources State Minister Nasrul Hamid, DI’s Chief of Party Katie Croake and CRI Executive Director Sabbir Bin Shams. The session was moderated by Barrister Shah Ali Farhad from CRI and Lipika Biswas of DI. The program was organized under the Strengthening Political Landscape (SPL) project jointly funded by USAID and UKAID.

According to Coordinator Barrister Farhad, the conference will include sessions by experts and specialists on electoral and political management as well as women’s political leadership issues.

On the second day, there will be an interactive discussion session attended by Radwan Mujib Siddiq, trustee, CRI, Awami League Presidium Member Lt Col Md Faruk Khan, International Affairs Secretary Dr Shammi Ahmed, and Katie Croake, COP, DI.

The event was organized with the aim of helping party leaders and activists reach out to the grassroot level and spread the development activities undertaken by the government.

Participants placed a set of recommendations, including the engagement of women in a number of different ways, to win over voters ahead of the election.

Samia Shahin, general secretary of Bangladesh Krishak League, welcomed the move, saying in our current political culture, women at the grassroots level often find themselves at odds with the concept of politics. This notion can be dispelled, and women campaigners can play a vital role while campaigning for the upcoming election, she said.

In the next three months, similar events will be devised and put in place to help the women leaders and activists acquire essential skills to run campaigns that will attract female voters.

In the run to the upcoming election, Awami League has shifted gears in making the electoral campaign more communicative and dynamic, while enabling the campaigners reach to the people.

Earlier, Sajeeb Wazed, ICT advisor to the prime minister inaugurated a two-day training sessions for lawmakers across the country to help them acquire the skills to communicate with people using social media. Organized by CRI, the event saw a large turnout at the party's office.